REGINALD D Hunter, described by many as one of the UK’s best comedians, will be gracing the stage at Venue Cymru this week. In fact, he’s so good, they’ve had to move his show to a bigger venue after seeing a rise in ticket sales.

The American born comedian has just returned from the Sydney Comedy festival, and he’s armed with fresh material.

"It’s a very new show, with some rough edges. I’m returning to the basic philosophy of comedy," says Reginald. "If they haven’t seen me live before they might be a little surprised.

"I think they’ll be surprised at the depth of some of the stuff. I don’t seek to shock or hurt anybody. I take what happens and poke fun at it."

Reginald's new show Trophy N*****s touches on everything from race to understanding violence.

The comedian definitely likes to push the boat out with his shows and insists he will be letting loose what he calls demon dogs – jokes that jangle a few nerves in the audience.

It won’t be the first time he’s turned a few heads. In 2006, posters advertising one of his previous shows were banned on the London Underground after being deemed offensive. But the comedian insists he is comfortable with using the ‘N’ word in his vocabulary and he doesn’t want people to be so uptight about it.

Reginald was born in Albany, Georgia. The youngest of nine brothers and sisters he grew up alongside siblings who were actively involved in the black power movement.

By his late twenties, Reginald had moved to the UK to pursue a career in acting. After a trial comedy gig in a pub, things went from strength to strength.

Now he’s a seasoned comedian with over 1,500 shows under his belt. He has also been a regular contributor to Have I Got News for You and 8 Out of 10 Cats and recently appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

Despite his TV fame, Reginald insists that stand-up is his greatest love.

"Stand-up comedy is my woman, everything else is what I cheat with," he says humorously.

But the comedian’s career hasn’t always been a smooth one. He recalls an awkward moment performing at the US Marines base in Germany in front of a mostly black audience. After a few drinks one lady left the audience and shouted that the comedian must get a lot of hate mail. Reginald responded that he already did but had never seen so many spelling mistakes in his life. The result was having a military escort back to his room.

So what does Reginald know about his audience?

"I know that Welsh people are very proud of their land. I have not mastered the accent, it’s very melodic," he says in his unmistakable southern accent.